Reliability and Military Construction Equipment

Because reliability is an integral part of military planning and has tremendous impact on operations and logistics, explicit reliability requirements have recently become part of many specifications used by the U.S. Army for procuring construction equipment. Reliability is discussed in the context of construction equipment, particularly the difficulty in obtaining data, defining failures, and the risks involved in demonstration tests. The successful application of reliability requirements in military specifications depends on a coordinated effort between industry and government working within commonly understood meanings of reliability and its ramifications.